Interactive virtual library system for expeditiously providing user-desired information from content providers, at least one of which is commercial, to a user without the need for the user to access the content providers individually

ABSTRACT

An interactive library system is disclosed which receives, by a library system computer, a user identification and password from a user computer. The library system computer compares the user identification and password with authorized user identifications and corresponding passwords stored in the library system to determine whether to grant access to the interactive library system. If comparison results in grant of access, the interactive library system provides a user with desired information and sets the user&#39;s privileges.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of application U.S. Ser. No.09/695,175, filed Oct. 24, 2000, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,213,261 which is acontinuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 09/415,578, filed Oct. 8, 1999that issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,168 on Aug. 30, 2005, which are eachincorporated herein in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an interactive virtual library system.More specifically, this invention relates to an interactive virtuallibrary system for expeditiously: (1) providing user-desired informationfrom content providers, at least one of which is a commercial contentprovider, to a user without the need for the user to access the contentproviders individually; and (2) providing a customized user interfacethrough which a user with appropriate security privilege can accessrelevant electronic files and providing a user with appropriate securityprivilege the right to modify and/or upload electronic files.

Presently, a user of a personal computer (“PC”) can access informationfrom a content provider, such as Lexis®-Nexis® or WestLaw® or U.S.Securities and Exchange Commission world wide web site, by establishinga telecommunication link with the computer of the content provider andperforming a search to obtain the information desired by the user. Forexample, the search may seek all relevant information in the databasesaccessible to the content provider pertaining to a specific company.Generally, the search results will be displayed on the user's monitor innumerical or chronological order.

While the conventional systems for accessing desired information fromcontent providers are satisfactory, there are disadvantages presented bythese systems. First, with existing systems, there is required muchnavigation (i.e., using an input device, such as a PC “mouse” or akeyboard, to go through various files and display pages) by the user toobtain the desired information from the various relevant databases. Forexample, with the conventional systems, a user has to establish aseparate telecommunication link with each content provider to accessthat content provider's databases. With commercial content providers,i.e., content providers requiring payment for information access, theuser generally has to enter at least authorized user identification andpassword in order to establish a telecommunication link. Then afterestablishing the telecommunication link, the user is required tonavigate to obtain the desired information. This process becomes moreand more cumbersome as the number of content providers accessed by theuser increases.

Second, the existing systems do not provide for much, if any,customization of user interfaces. For example, there may be specificinformational topics from Lexis®-Nexis® or another content provider forwhich a first user desires periodic information updates. If the firstuser is an employee of a company in charge of monitoring the activitiesof competitors, these topics may include financial news relating to eachof the competitors, news relating to all lawsuits filed in the industry,and information pertaining to any patents, copyrights or trademarksobtained by the competitors. A second user, by contrast, may desireinformation updates from specific legal periodicals and technicaljournals. Despite the different informational topics desired by thefirst and second users, however, the user interface provided by aconventional system to both users is the same.

A third disadvantage of the conventional systems is illustrated by thefollowing example. After the user has reviewed the desired informationfrom a content provider, she may want to contact an appropriate personto discuss what she read. For example, if what she read relates toissuance of a patent to a competitor that effects her company'sproducts, then she may want to contact the company's outside patentcounsel for advice. With existing systems, there is no way for her toinitiate contact with the outside patent counsel within the system. Ifshe wants to use e-mail for this purpose, then she will have to go tothe e-mail application and run it.

What is desired, therefore, is an interactive virtual library systemthat addresses the above-described disadvantages of existing systems.Furthermore, it is desired that such an interactive virtual librarysystem provide a customized user interface through which a user withappropriate security privilege can access relevant electronic files(e.g., agreements in electronic form), and provide a user withappropriate security privilege the right to modify electronic files inthe library system or upload electronic files to the library system.

It is axiomatic by now that the Internet has revolutionized how peoplework, live and play. To take an example, prior to the use of theInternet, lawyers or business people negotiating an agreement would mailor fax draft agreements back and forth until an agreement was finalized.Today, such draft agreements are often e-mailed back and forth until anagreement is finalized. While the use of e-mail to send documents backand forth results in significant time savings, it is not satisfactory insome cases.

For example, the lawyers or business people negotiating the agreementmay also want up-to-date news information relating to the subject matterof the agreement. Also, there may be additional information or otherdocuments that may need to be made accessible to the parties. Therefore,what is desired is an interactive virtual library system as describedabove, that also addresses these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a virtuallibrary system that minimizes navigation by a user in obtaining desiredinformation from various databases and from various content providers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a virtual library systemthat has a customizable user interface.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a virtual librarysystem that expeditiously allows a user to contact a person specified bythe user regarding the information obtained.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a virtual librarysystem having the above-described features adaptable for both intranetand extranet use.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a virtual librarysystem that has a customizable user interface through which a user withappropriate security privilege can access relevant electronic files andmodify and/or upload electronic files.

These and other objects are achieved by an interactive library systemhaving a computer in telecommunication link with at least one usercomputer and computer of at least one content provider requiring paymentfor information access. The interactive library system performs thefollowing:

-   (i) receiving, by the library system computer, user identification    and password from the user computer;-   (ii) comparing, by the library system computer, the received user    identification and password with the authorized user identifications    and corresponding passwords stored in the interactive library system    to determine whether to grant access to the interactive library    system;-   (iii) if comparison results in grant of access, then the library    system is capable of performing one or both of the following:-   (iv) receiving, by the library system computer, input from the user    computer specifying type of information desired by the user;

establishing, by the library system computer, telecommunication linkwith the content provider computer;

transmitting, by the library system computer, the type of informationdesired by the user as a search request to the content providercomputer;

receiving, by the library system computer, result of the search requestfrom the content provider computer; and

providing, by the library system computer, the result to the usercomputer;

-   (v) setting, by the library system computer, the user's privileges;

if the user's privileges correspond to a first preselected level ofaccess, then providing, by the library system computer, access toinformation in a Deal Room; and

if the user's privileges correspond to a second preselected level ofaccess, then providing, by the library system computer, right to modifyDeal Room information and/or upload electronic files to the Deal Room.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an interactive library system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of one operation of the interactive librarysystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing additional functionalities providable tothe interactive library system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a customized user interface provided bythe interactive library system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of another operation of the interactive librarysystem of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 shows another sample customized user interface provided by theinteractive library system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an interactive library system 10 of thepresent invention in telecommunication link with user computers, four ofwhich are shown as reference numerals 11-14, via telecommunication lines15-18, respectively. The interactive library system 10 and one or moreof the user computers 11-14 may be part of an intranet, i.e., internalcompany network, or an extranet, i.e., network where the library system10 is accessible to outside third party users. As will be apparent tosomeone skilled in the art, the interactive library system 10 of thepresent invention is configured to work in both intranet and extranetsystem architectures.

The library system 10 is also in telecommunication link with computersof content providers, only two of which are shown by reference numerals20, 22, via telecommunication lines 24, 26, respectively. At least oneof the content providers is a commercial content provider, i.e.requiring payment for information access. The telecommunication linksmay be over a local area network (“LAN”) or an Internet connection usinga public switched phone network or a cable network. Connection may alsobe provided by dedicated data lines, cellular, Personal CommunicationSystems (“PCS”), microwave, satellite networks, or other means known inthe art.

The library system 10 of FIG. 1 includes a computer 30 having amicroprocessor and memory, and a first and second storage units 31, 32.The computer 30 is preferably a server. A program 34, which ispreferably stored in memory of the computer 30, is operable on themicroprocessor. The operation of the program 34 will be described ingreater detail with respect to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5. As used herein,“program” may be source code having one or more subroutines or objectcode or the like. The first storage unit 31, which is preferably adatabase, stores data related to users, such as authorized useridentifications and corresponding passwords, user account data, and typeof information desired by the users. It should be noted that datarelated to users may be stored in more than one storage unit. The secondstorage unit 32, which is also preferably a database, stores datarelating to the “Deal Rooms,” as will be described in greater detailhereinbelow. Data relating to the Deal Rooms may be stored in more thanone storage unit. In addition, the data in the first and second storageunits 31, 32 may be stored in one storage unit, if desired. While FIG. 1shows the storage units 31, 32 as part of the library system 10, itshould be apparent to one skilled in the art that one or both of thestorage units may be external to the library system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of one operation of the interactive library system10 of FIG. 1. At step 100, a user computer 11-14 establishes atelecommunication link with the library system 10. The user will then beprompted to provide a user identification and password (step 102). UserID and password may be input by the user through a keyboard, voicerecognition system or other known input means, or the user ID andpassword may be stored in memory of the user computer 11-14 and providedto the library system 10. At step 104, the library system 10, preferablythe microprocessor of the library computer 30, compares the receiveduser ID and password with authorized user IDs and correspondingpasswords stored in the first storage unit 31.

If the received user ID and password are found to be authorized, thenthe user is allowed access into the library system 10; otherwise, theuser is prompted to provide another user ID and password (step 106). Ifaccess is allowed, then at step 108, the user may: (i) input type ofinformation desired, e.g., financial news relating to companies in aspecific industry; or (ii) choose to use a previously input searchrequest, e.g., request for financial news relating to companies in aspecific industry saved previously; or (iii) use a preselected searchrequest, e.g., a selectable icon labeled “Internet-related Lawsuits”appearing on the user interface, the selection of which (such as byclicking with a PC “mouse”) is a request for information relating toInternet-related lawsuits. As used herein, “search request” is to beconstrued broadly, to include any request for information, such asentering search terms, selecting an icon or a hyperlink, etc.

At step 110, the library system 10 establishes a telecommunicationlink(s) with relevant preselected content provider(s) based on theuser's search request. In the preferred embodiment, at least one of thecontent providers is a commercial content provider. For example, if therequest is for financial news relating to companies in a specificindustry, the library system 10 may establish telecommunication linkswith preselected commercial content providers, such as Lexis®-Nexis® andWestLaw®, as well as preselected free content providers available on theInternet. Relevant content providers' information (e.g., Internetprotocol address or web site domain name) is stored in either the memoryof the library computer 30 or one of the storage units 31, 32 such thatthe program 34 may operate the microprocessor to access this storedinformation to enable the library system 10 to establishtelecommunication links with the preselected content providers. Wherenecessary, such as for content providers which require user ID andpassword for access, the program 34 further operates the microprocessorof the library computer 30 to access such stored information from eitherthe memory of the library computer 30 or one of the storage units 31, 32to enable access to these content providers.

At step 112, the program 34 operates on the microprocessor of thelibrary computer 30 to transmit the user's search request to theconnected content provider(s). The result of the search request isreceived by the library system 10 from the content provider(s) at step114. Finally, at step 116, the result is provided by the library system10 to the corresponding user computer 11-14. While not shown in FIG. 2,it should be apparent to one skilled in the art that following step 116,the library system 10 may return to step 108 for additional searchrequests or the user may choose to logout or otherwise end access to thelibrary system 10.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing additional functionalities that may beprovided to the interactive library system 10 of FIG. 1. In addition tothe steps set forth in FIG. 2, the user is provided with the option ofrequesting the library system 10 to perform a search request at apreselected time interval (step 130). For example, the user may requestthat a search for financial news relating to companies in a specificindustry be performed once a week. This preselected time interval chosenby the user is preferably stored in the first storage unit 31. Step 130may follow step 108 of FIG. 2. At step 132, the library systemdetermines whether the preselected time interval has transpired.

If the preselected time interval has transpired, then the library system10 performs steps 110-114 of FIG. 2. Optionally, if requested by theuser, the library system 10 may notify the user after receiving resultof the search request from the content provider(s) that such results areready for review by the user (step 134). Notification is preferably byelectronic communication means, such as an appropriate e-mail message tothe user.

Each user of the library system 10 may request that she be provided witha customized user interface. FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a customizeduser interface 40 for User 1 (User 1's computer is reference numeral 11in FIG. 1). The customized user interface 40 is developed based oninformation provided by the user 11. The customized user interface datamay be stored in the first storage unit 31, or it may be stored in theuser's computer 11 from which the library system 10 will access the datato provide the customized user interface. The user interface 40 may bedeveloped using templates or other means known to those skilled in theart to provide flexibility and expeditious configurability. Along theleft-hand side and the top of the user interface 40, there are showntypes of information desired by this user—such as “Periodicals,” “SECReports,” “Competitors' Financials,” “Industry Lawsuits,” and “IssuedPatents, Copyrights, and Trademarks”—as selectable words or buttons. Theuser interface 40 is designed so that these selectable words or buttonsare accessible by the user via an input device, such as the PC “mouse.”

There is displayed a numerical list 44 of results of a search requestreceived from content providers 20, 22. For example, this may be a listof patents, copyrights and trademarks issued to competitors within thelast week. If the user desires to see an updated list of industrylawsuits, then she uses an input device to select “Industry Lawsuits.”The library system 10 will perform steps 110-116 of FIG. 2 to provide anupdated list of lawsuits on the display screen.

The user interface 40 also includes a selectable button 50 forelectronically communicating with a contactee preselected by the user.In the exemplary drawing of FIG. 4, the electronic communication meansis by e-mail and the preselected contactee is an attorney 42. As anexample, if the user 11 is reviewing the list of patents, copyrights andtrademarks issued to competitors and discovers that one of the issuedpatents relates to her company's products, then she may want toimmediately contact her company's patent counsel 42 for advice. She cancontact the patent attorney 42 by choosing the selectable button 50 withthe appropriate input device. This will automatically run the e-mailapplication, by which the desired message can be sent over anappropriate local area network, wide area network, or other connectionmeans as described above with respect to FIG. 1.

It should be apparent to one skilled in the art that the configurationof the user interface in FIG. 4 is merely one of many possibilities. Thetypes of information desired by a user may be placed anywhere on thedisplay screen and in any order desired. Also, although a numerical listof relevant information is illustrated in FIG. 4, the relevantinformation may be displayed in any suitable format.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of another operation of the interactive librarysystem 10 of FIG. 1. Steps 100-106 are as set forth in connection withdescription of FIG. 2. Thus, a user computer 11-14 establishes atelecommunication link with the library system 10 (step 100). The userwill then be prompted to provide a user identification and password(step 102). User ID and password may be input by the user through akeyboard, voice recognition system or other known input means, or theuser ID and password may be stored in memory of the user computer 11-14and provided to the library system 10. At step 104, the library system10, preferably the microprocessor of the library computer 30, comparesthe received user ID and password with authorized user IDs andcorresponding passwords stored in the first storage unit 31. If thereceived user ID and password are found to be authorized, then the useris allowed access into the library system 10; otherwise, the user isprompted to provide another user ID and password (step 106).

When the library system 10 determines that the user is authorized, thesystem 10 sets the user's privileges based on the user ID and/orpassword (step 200). Each authorized user's level of access ispreferably stored in the first storage unit 31. For a user with onepreselected level of access, she may have the right to review and/ordownload information in a “Deal Room.” This is indicated by referencenumeral 202. As used herein, “Deal Room” refers to a unique subjectmatter, all information relating to which may be accessible preferablythrough one user interface screen (or related user interface screens).See FIG. 6.

For example, the subject matter of one Deal Room may be a patent licenseagreement. The Deal Room in this case may include a copy of the patentto be licensed, a draft patent license agreement, and news relatingcompetitors of the licensee. Another Deal Room may pertain to a deal tofinance a building project in a foreign country. In this case, the DealRoom may include information about the foreign country's laws andregulations pertaining to the project, draft agreement of the projectfinance deal, and contact information of all people and institutionsrelevant to the project.

A user with another preselected level of access may have the right tomodify information in a Deal Room and/or upload electronic files to aDeal Room (preferably in addition to the right to access information inthe Deal Room 202). This is indicated by reference numeral 204.Returning to the patent license agreement Deal Room example above, let'sassume that user 1 in FIG. 1 is a patent attorney for the patentlicensor and that he has the right to modify and upload electronic filesto the Deal Room. He can draft the initial patent license agreement andupload it to the Deal Room. The licensee's patent attorney, who also hasthe right to modify and upload electronic files to the Deal Room, canreview the initial draft agreement and modify it. He can upload thismodified draft agreement to the Deal Room.

A user with still another preselected level of access may have the rightto create a “Deal Room” using a “Deal Room” wizard (software applicationprogram) provided by the library system 10. This is indicated byreference numeral 206. The “Deal Room” wizard, which may be part of theprogram 34 or another software program stored in memory of the computer30, requests user input to preselected questions. Based on the userentries and preferably utilizing templates, the “Deal Room” wizardprogram creates a Deal Room (such as shown in FIG. 6). It should beunderstood that the three preselected levels of access described inconnection with FIG. 5 are exemplary only. There may be more or less asdesired. Also, it should be understood that the three rights 202, 204,206 described in connection with FIG. 5 are exemplary only. There may bemore or less as desired.

FIG. 6 shows a sample Deal Room screen 230 created using the “Deal Room”wizard for the patent license agreement example described above. Thissample Deal Room screen is created for Microsoft's Windows-basedoperating system. However, the sample Deal Room screen may be createdfor any other operating system. The sample Deal Room screen 230 includesa patent folder 232, a license agreement folder 234, a competitor newsfolder 236 and a contact information folder 238. Although not shown,each folder may include sub-folders. By selecting a folder, anauthorized user can see what content the folder contains on the mainscreen portion 240. For example, by selecting the license agreementfolder 234, the user can see what license agreement, if any, the foldercontains.

The appearance of the sample Deal Room screen 230 is for exemplarypurposes only. The organization and presentation of the screen may bevaried, as known to those of ordinary skill in the art, withoutdeviating from the scope and spirit of the invention.

A user may be charged a fee for use of the library system 10 of thepresent invention. While not to be construed as exhaustive, thefollowing methods (alone or some combination thereof) are contemplated:First, a user may be billed based on the time amount of access to thelibrary system 10. The time amount of access data for users arepreferably stored in the first storage unit 31. After a preselected timeperiod, such as one month, an account statement for the user will begenerated.

Second, a user may be billed based on the time amount of access to eachcontent provider. The time amount of access to each content providerdata for users are preferably stored in the first storage unit 31. Aftera preselected time period, such as one month, an account statement forthe user will be generated.

Third, a user may be billed based on the time amount of access tocommercial content providers. The time amount of access to commercialcontent providers data for users are preferably stored in the firststorage unit 31. After a preselected time period, such as one month, anaccount statement for the user will be generated.

Fourth, a user may be billed based on the number of search queriestransmitted by the library system 10 to the content providers. Thenumber of transmitted search queries data for users are preferablystored in the first storage unit 31. After a preselected time period,such as one month, an account statement for the user will be generated.

Finally, a user may be billed directly by the content providers accessedby the user through the library system 10. How to bill the user will bedetermined by each content provider accessed. For example, the user maybe billed based on the time amount of access to the content provider orthe number of search queries transmitted to the content provider. Thecontent providers will access the user information stored in the firststorage unit 31 of the library system 10 to generate an accountstatement.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus ofthe present invention has many applications, and that the presentinvention is not limited to the representative examples disclosedherein. Moreover, the scope of the present invention coversconventionally known variations and modifications to the methods andsystem components described herein, as would be known by those skilledin the art.

1. In an interactive library system having a computer intelecommunication link with at least one user computer and computer ofat least one content provider requiring payment for information access,a method which comprises: receiving, by the library system computer,user identification and password from the user computer; comparing, bythe library system computer, said received user identification andpassword with authorized user identifications and correspondingpasswords stored in the library system to determine whether to grantaccess to the interactive library system; if comparison results in grantof access, then the method further comprises steps of: (1) receiving, bythe library system computer, input from the user computer specifyingtype of information desired by the user; establishing, by the librarysystem computer, telecommunication link with content provider computer;transmitting, by the library system computer, said type of informationdesired by the user as a search request to the content providercomputer; receiving, by the library system computer, result of saidsearch request from the content provider computer; and providing, by thelibrary system computer, said result to the user computer; (2) setting,by the library system computer, the user's privileges; if the user'sprivileges correspond to a first preselected level of access, thenproviding, by the library system computer, access to information in aDeal Room; and if the user's privileges correspond to a secondpreselected level of access, then providing, by the library systemcomputer, right to modify Deal Room information and/or upload electronicfiles to the Deal Room.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:customizing a user interface provided by the interactive library systemto the user computer based on type of information desired by the user.3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing a userinterface, by the interactive library system to the user computer, thatincludes an interactive element, the selection of said element by theuser activating a communication program to enable communication with apreselected contactee.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: ifthe user's privileges correspond to a third preselected level of access,then providing, by the library system computer, right to create a DealRoom.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the creation of the Deal Room isthrough a software application program provided by the library systemcomputer.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, bythe library system computer, time amount of access to the interactivelibrary system by the user computer; and storing, by the library system,the time amount of access to the interactive library system by the usercomputer.
 7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: generating anaccount statement after a preselected period of time based on the timeamount of access for the user computer stored in the library system. 8.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the librarysystem computer, time amount of access by the user computer to eachcontent provider; and storing, by the library system, the time amount ofaccess by the user computer to each content provider.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: generating an account statement after apreselected period of time based on the time amount of access by theuser computer to each content provider stored in the library system. 10.The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the librarysystem computer, time amount of access by the user computer via thelibrary system computer to each content provider requiring payment forinformation access; and storing, by the library system, the time amountof access by the user computer to each content provider requiringpayment for information access.
 11. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising: generating an account statement after a preselected periodof time based on the time amount of access by the user computer to eachcontent provider requiring payment for information access stored in thelibrary system.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:determining, by the library system computer, number of the searchrequests transmitted to the content providers for the user computer; andstoring, by the library system, the number of search requeststransmitted for the user computer.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising: generating an account statement after a preselected periodof time based on the number of search requests for the user computerstored in the library system.
 14. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: accessing, by the content providers accessed by the usercomputer through the library system, preselected user information storedin the library system; and generating an account statement, by thecontent providers accessed by the user computer, after a preselectedtime period based on the preselected user information stored in thelibrary system.
 15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving, by the library system computer, input from the user computerspecifying a preselected time interval for transmitting search requestto the content provider.
 16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:notifying, by the library system computer, the user computer that theresult of the search request is ready for review by the user.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the notification is by electroniccommunication.